Dist. 300 rethinks deep cuts to bus service

The impassioned pleas of parents, educators and advocates that have inundated the Community Unit District 300 school board in recent weeks did not fall on deaf ears.

The district announced late Thursday that in response to those appeals, Superintendent Ken Arndt has revised his list of proposed transportation reductions, which are slated for a school board vote on Monday.

Those revisions address what have probably been the two most controversial proposals outlined in Arndt's original list: the elimination of transportation for the dual language program and special routes for children who attend parochial schools.

On Monday, Arndt will not recommend that the board cut transportation to the dual language program, an initiative that provides immersion in English and Spanish for students at elementary schools in the district.

Parents had argued that cutting transportation for the program would be devastating, forcing many Hispanic parents to remove their kids from the program.

The district will be able to afford busing for the program by centralizing the program at Liberty Elementary School and reallocating funds originally intended for a literacy initiative.

Arndt's revised plan still calls for scaling back parochial busing. The district would end dedicated routes to the five parochial schools in its boundaries and instead provide shuttles from the district's five middle schools to the parochial schools, saving $335,000 a year.

In a news release, Arndt said his new plan allows the district to meet its statutory obligations to transport students who attend parochial schools, while still saving the district money.

"Our interpretation of the law has not changed," Arndt said.

Some parents and teachers were already celebrating Thursday.

"The District 300 school board has conceded to the public outcry against cuts to parochial school busing," wrote Carol Norman, a teacher at St. Catherine of Siena School, in an e-mail. "We have won and are thrilled!"

The rest of the transportation cuts Arndt has proposed still stand.

The board will vote on the cuts at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Carpentersville Middle School.